Do the Leathnecks really need 422,000 more acres?
The easy answer is no. In the first place, the 422,000 acres of public and private land have been essentially put on hold so that no one else can lay claim to it. The total amount used permanently will be far less than that.
Also no because Alternative 6 in their plans calls for doing nothing and using the existing 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. I'm going to guess that our screaming will be the determining factor for that choice.
Alternative 1, 4, and 5 calls for about 187,000 acres west (Almost all of the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle area) and 22,000 acres south. The territory is the same, the training plan is different.
Alternative 2 calls for about 112,000 acres west (1/2 of Johnson Valley) and 22,000 acres south.
Alternative 3 calls for about 22,000 acres south and 224,000 acres east.
The Combat Center at Twentynine Palms already occupies 932 square miles, or 596,000 acres of the southern Mojave Desert. The Combat Center is three-quarters the size of Rhode Island. With the full 422,000 acres it would be larger than Rhode Island.
Marine Expeditionary Brigade training requirements say that the existing base isn't big enough for training. They say 60% of the terrain isn't usable.
Ft. Irwin is 642,000 acres and they say that isn't suitable for their needs.
I though the military was down sizing?
